Communication method and system, access network device, and application server

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method and system, an access network device, and an application server. The communication method includes: receiving, by an access network device, a service packet; and sending, by the access network device, the received service packet to an application server according to a policy, where the application server is arranged at an access network side, and is independent from the access network device or in the access network device, and the application server supports operation of at least one service. It can be seen that, an application server that supports operation of third-party applications is introduced at an access network side, so that a UE can directly perform service interaction with the access network side, which significantly improves the response time of a user request, decreases service delay, and improves the QoS of a service, thereby improving user experience.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2012/073666, filed on Apr. 9, 2012, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of mobilecommunications technologies, and in particular, to a communicationmethod and system, an access network device, and an application server.

BACKGROUND

In the field of the mobile communications technologies, a user equipment(User Equipment, UE) needs to establish a connection with an externalnetwork (for example, the Internet (Internet)) through a wirelessnetwork, and enjoys services of third-party application services throughthe external network or a remote server.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network mainly includes an accessnetwork 110 and a core network (Core Network, CN) 120, where managementfunctions of radio resources are mainly implemented in the accessnetwork 110 in a centralized manner, and functions related to servicesand applications are mainly implemented in the core network 120 in acentralized manner. Therefore, the access network 110 is a bridgeconnecting a UE 130 and the core network 120. The service interaction ofthe UE 130 with the external network is based on the connection amongthe UE, the access network, and the core network, and is finallyimplemented through a gateway 121 at a core network side. A remoteserver 140 is arranged behind the gateway 121 of the core network and isfar away from the UE 130, resulting in problems such as extended servicedelay and low quality of service (Quality of Service, QoS), therebyinfluencing user experience.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method andsystem, an access network device, and an application server, so as tosolve the problems of extended service delay and low QoS of a service,thereby improving user experience.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides acommunication method, including: receiving, by an access network device,a service packet; sending, by the access network device, the receivedservice packet to an application server according to a policy, where theapplication server is arranged at an access network side, and isindependent from the access network device or in the access networkdevice, and the application server supports operation of at least oneservice.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides acommunication method, including: receiving, by an application server, aservice packet sent by an access network device, where the applicationserver is arranged at an access network side, and is independent fromthe access network device or in the access network device, and theapplication server supports operation of at least one service; theapplication server processes the service packet.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides anaccess network device, including a first interface unit configured tocommunicate with a user equipment; a second interface unit configured tocommunicate with a core network; and a third interface unit configuredto communicate with an application server, where the application serveris arranged at an access network side, and is independent from theaccess network device or in the access network device, and theapplication server supports operation of at least one service; and aprocessor, connected to each of the first interface unit, the secondinterface unit, and the third interface unit, and configured to receivea service packet through the first interface unit or the secondinterface unit, and send, through the third interface unit, the receivedservice packet to the application server according to a policy.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides anapplication server, supporting operation of at least one service, andarranged at an access network side, and being independent from an accessnetwork device or in the access network device. The application serverincludes: an interface unit, configured to communicate with the accessnetwork device; a storage unit, configured to store service data of aservice supported by the application server; and a processing unit,connected to each of the interface unit and the storage unit, andconfigured to receive, through the interface unit, a service packet sentby the access network device, and process the service packet.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides acommunication system, and the foregoing access network device and theforegoing application server are arranged at an access network side ofthe communication system.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides acomputer readable storage medium, including a program, used to performthe above method.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides acomputer readable storage medium, including a program, used to performthe above method.

It can be seen that, according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, an application server that supports operation of third-partyapplications is introduced at an access network side, so that a UE candirectly perform service interaction with the access network side, whichsignificantly improves the response time of a user request, decreasesservice delay, and improves the QoS of a service, thereby improving userexperience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosuremore clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawingsrequired for describing the embodiments. Apparently, the accompanyingdrawings in the following description merely show some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and persons of ordinary skill in the art canderive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creativeefforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system inthe prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication systemprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deviceprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an application serverprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an application server processing aservice packet provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is another schematic flow chart of an application serverprocessing a service packet provided in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an application and awireless network interface protocol provided in an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a software architecture diagram of an application serverprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication method providedin an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an LTE communication systemprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a user plane data stream in an LTEcommunication system provided in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a user plane interface of an LTEcommunication system provided in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a control plane data stream in an LTEcommunication system provided in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, solutions, and advantages of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure more comprehensible, the following clearly andcompletely describes the solutions according to the embodiments of thepresent disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings in theembodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the embodiments inthe following description are merely a part rather than all of theembodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained bypersons skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the presentdisclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protectionscope of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the problems existing in theprocess of service interaction of existing third-party applications arefully taken into consideration, and a logical network element supportingoperation of third-party applications is introduced at an access networkside. In this way, a UE can perform service interaction with the accessnetwork side directly, which significantly improves the response time ofa user request, decreases service delay, improves the QoS of a service,thereby improving user experience. Detailed descriptions are made in thefollowing with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication systemprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.1, it can be seen that a logical network element introduced at an accessnetwork 210 side is an application server 212 in the embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and the application server 212 supports operation ofat least one service. Physically, the application server 212 may be anindependent device outside an access network device 211, or integratedin the access network device 211, which is not limited by thisembodiment in any manner.

In addition to original functions, the access network device 211 needsto implement an additional packet bypass function, so as to bypass aservice packet from a UE 230 or a core network 220 to the applicationserver 212 for processing. The original functions of the access networkdevice 211 include management of radio resources, forwarding of airinterface data, and maintenance of a UE status, which are well known topersons skilled in the art and not described in detail herein again.

It should be noted that the access network device 211 is a device thatenables an UE to access the wireless network, including, but not limitedto, a Node B (Node B), an evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), a homeNode B (Home Node B, HNB)/(Home eNode B, HeNB), a radio networkcontroller (radio network controller, RNC), a base station controller(Base Station Controller, BSC), and a base transceiver station (BaseTransceiver Station, BTS).

In addition, the third-party applications according to this embodimentinclude, but not limited to, cache (Cache) acceleration related to theWeb (Web) pages, video transcoding, machine-to-machine(Machine-to-Machine, M2M) handshake signaling termination, and contentstorage and distribution, which may be provided by a third party and arenot restricted by this embodiment in any manner. In addition, theapplication server 212 may be an open application server which offers anopen platform for a third-party application provider, and supportsexpansion of various third-party applications, thereby further improvinguser experience.

More detailed descriptions are made on the access network device 211 andthe application server 212 in the following with reference toaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network deviceprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3,the access network device 211 includes: a first interface unit 310, asecond interface unit 320, a third interface unit 330, and a processor340 connected to each of the first interface unit 310, the secondinterface unit 320, and the third interface unit 330. The firstinterface unit 310 is configured to communicate with a UE 230; thesecond interface unit 320 is configured to communicate with a corenetwork 220; and the third interface unit 330 is configured tocommunicate with the application server 212; the processor 340 isconfigured receive a service packet through the first interface unit 310or the second interface unit 320, and send, through the third interfaceunit 330, the received service packet to the application server 212according to a policy. As described above, the application server 212supports operation of at least one service, and the application server212 is arranged at an access network side, independent from the accessnetwork device 211 or in the access network device 211.

The policy for sending a service packet to the application server 212 bythe access network device 211 includes: sending all service packetsreceived by the access network device 211 to the application server 212;or identifying, with identity information, whether a service packet canbe sent to the application server 212, sending, to the applicationserver 212, a service packet that can be sent to the application server212, and sending, to the core network 220, a service packet that cannotbe sent to the application server 212. The identity information may besome identity information carried in existing service packets,including, but not limited to, subscriber profile identity (SubscriberProfile ID, SPID) information, quality of service class identifier (QoSclass identifier, QCI) information, stateful packet inspection (StatefulPacket Inspection, SPI) information, or deep packet inspection (DeepPacket Inspection, DPI). The correspondence between the identityinformation and whether a service packet can be sent to the applicationserver 212 may be defined by an operator, which is not limited by thisembodiment in any manner.

A situation that a part of service packets are sent according to theSPID to the application server 212 for processing is taken as anexample, where the SPID is a subscriber identity defined by an operatorand currently have a value in the range of 1 to 256, and specificmeanings may be defined by the operator (currently, merely some valuesare defined for a camping priority and an inter-frequency/inter-RAThandover priority). The operator may predefine some SPIDs to presentwhich bearers of a subscriber or which kinds of service packets can besent to the application server 212 for processing, so that, afterreceiving a service packet, the access network device 211 can determine,according to the SPID of the subscriber, whether to send the receivedservice packet to the application server 212.

A situation that a part of service packets are sent according to the QCIto the application server 212 for processing is taken as an example,where the QCI includes nine classes, an operator may predefine whichclass or which classes of services need to be sent to the applicationserver 212 for processing, so that, after receiving a service packet,the access network device 211 can determine, according to the QCI of theservice packet, whether to send the received service packet to theapplication server 212.

A situation that a part of service packets are sent according to the SPIor the DPI to the application server 212 for processing is taken as anexample, where an operator may predefine some rules for forwardingservice packets to the application server 212, for example, a packet isforwarded according to a 5-tuple of the packet (a source IP, adestination IP, a source port, a destination port, and a protocol type),so that, after receiving a service packet, the access network device 211can determine, according to forwarding rules, whether to send thereceived service packet to the application server 212.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an application serverprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4,the application server 212, as described above, supports operation of atleast one service, and is arranged at the access network side and may beindependent from the access network device or in the access networkdevice. The application server 212 includes an interface unit 410, astorage unit 420, and a processing unit 430 connected to each of theinterface unit 410 and the storage unit 420. The interface unit 410 isconfigured to communicate with the access network device 211; thestorage unit 420 is configured to store service date of a servicesupported by the application server 212; and the processing unit 430 isconfigured to receive, through the interface unit 410, a service packetsent by the access network device 211, and process the service packet.

It should be noted that the processing unit 430 may be a processor, andthe storage unit 420 may be a memory. If the application server 212 isintegrated in the access network device 211, functions of the processingunit 430 of the application server 212 can be implemented in theprocessor 340 of the access network device 211, that is, the applicationserver 212 shares the processor with the access network device 211.

The procedure of processing a corresponding service packet by theprocessing unit 430 varies with the service packet received by theprocessing unit 430. The procedure includes, but not limited to, thefollowing cases:

When a policy of sending a service packet to the application server 212by the access network device 211 is preset, the policy is set accordingto a service type that can be currently supported by the applicationserver 212, and only a service packet of a service supported by theapplication server 212 is sent to the application server 212. In thisway, the application server 212 does not need to determine whether itsupports the received service packet. The procedure for the processingunit 430 to process the service packet is shown in FIG. 5, including:

Step S510: Parse the service packet, which is a process to peel offinformation of other protocol layers, so as to obtain data of anapplication layer.

Step S520: According to the parsed service packet, run a servicecorresponding to the service packet.

Step S530: Feed a running result back to the access network device.

When a policy of sending a service packet to the application server 212by the access network device 211 is preset, if the policy is not setaccording to a service type currently supported by the applicationserver, the process for the processing unit 430 to process the servicepacket includes the following steps, as shown in FIG. 6:

S610: Parse the service packet, which is similar to step S510 and is notdescribed in detail herein again.

Step S620: According to the parsed service packet, determine whether theprocessing unit supports operation of a service corresponding to theservice packet; and if the processing unit supports operation of theservice corresponding to the service packet, perform step S630; if theprocessing unit does not support operation of the service correspondingto the service packet, perform step S640, step S650 or step S660.

If the result of parsing indicates that the processing unit supportsoperation of the service corresponding to the service packet, theservice corresponding to the service packet is run according to theparsed service packet, and a running result is fed back to the accessnetwork device (step S630); if the result of parsing indicates that theprocessing unit does not support operation of the service correspondingto the service packet, the service packet is returned to the accessnetwork device (step S640), so that the access network device sends theservice packet out through a conventional channel; or the service packetis sent to a core network (step S650), and at this time, a directchannel from the application server to the core network is required; orinstruction signaling is sent to the access network device (step S660),where the instruction signaling is used to instruct the access networkdevice to send the service packet to a core network. Because the accessnetwork device has received the service packet, the access networkdevice only needs to cache the service packet and sends, according tothe instruction information, the service packet out through aconventional channel. When the application server cannot provide aservice, foregoing step S640, step S650, or step S660 is provided, so asto ensure that the service is provided to a UE in a conventional mannerand ensure that the service is not interrupted.

In addition, if the parsed service packet includes update data of theservice supported by the processing unit, the update data is stored inthe storage unit.

Considering that the service packet is transmitted between the accessnetwork device 211 and the application server 212, a user plane channelneeds to be established between the access network device 211 and theapplication server 212. One manner is as follows: the user plane channelis preset, and at this time, a user plane protocol only needs to bedefined, so that the service packet is transmitted through the presetuser plane channel according to the user plane protocol. Another manneris as follows: a protocol of the third interface unit 330 of the accessnetwork device 211 and a protocol of the interface unit 410, interactingwith the interface unit 330, of the application server 212 areconfigured, so that according to the configured protocols, a user planechannel is established between the access network device 211 and theapplication server 212 if necessary, so as to transmit the servicepacket through the user plane channel.

Each of the protocols of the third interface unit 330 and the interfaceunit 410 is an application and wireless network interface protocol, sothat the user plane channel is established between the access networkdevice 211 and the application server 212 according to the applicationand wireless network interface protocol.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the application and wirelessnetwork interface protocol. As shown in FIG. 7, the application andwireless network interface protocol includes a control plane protocol710 and a user plane protocol 720. The user plane protocol 720 is usedfor information transmission on a user plane channel; the control planeprotocol 710 is used for establishment of the user plane channel, andthe establishment of the user plane channel includes: establishing,according to the control plane protocol, a control plane link betweenthe access network device and the application server; and establishing,according to control information borne by the control plane link, theuser plane channel between the access network device and the applicationserver.

The control plane protocol 710 includes a service network layer protocoland a transmission network layer protocol, where the service networklayer protocol includes control information, and the transmissionnetwork layer protocol includes a physical layer protocol, a data linklayer protocol, a network layer protocol, and a transport layerprotocol. The user plane protocol includes a service network layerprotocol and a transmission network layer protocol. The service networklayer protocol is similar to the existing service network layer protocolused for service packet transmission between a UE and a remote server,and an access network does not process this part of protocol, and merelyperforms transparent transmission, which are well known to personsskilled in the art and not described in detail herein again in thisembodiment. The transmission network layer protocol is used to implementtransmission of a service packet, and the transmission network layerprotocol also includes a physical layer protocol, a data link layerprotocol, a network layer protocol, and a transport layer protocol.

In the transmission network layer protocol of the control planeprotocol, the network layer protocol may be an Internet protocol(Internet Protocol, IP), and the transport layer protocol may be astream control transmission protocol (Stream Control TransmissionProtocol, SCTP), a transmission control protocol (Transmission ControlProtocol, TCP), or a user datagram protocol (User Datagram Protocol,UDP). In the transport network layer protocol of the user planeprotocol, the network layer protocol may be an IP; the transport layerprotocol may include a UDP and a GPRS tunneling protocol-user plane(GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User plane, GTP-U), where the GTP-U may bereplaced by a UDP tunneling protocol, an IP tunneling protocol, or adata link layer tunneling protocol. This case is merely an exampleherein, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

The foregoing control information includes, but not limited to, resetinformation, an open API interface setting request message, and a basestation configuration update message, which is described with a longterm evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) access technology as anexample. Other access technologies, such as a universal mobiletelecommunications system (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System,UMTS), are similar to it, and are not described in detail herein again.

Preferably, the control information includes a status informationsubscription request message, used to instruct an access network deviceto send status information of a wireless network to an applicationserver. In this may, a third-party application can flexibly adjust theprocessing of a service packet according to the status information. Forexample, if the status information indicates that an air interface iscongested, a high-definition video resource may be adjusted to a commonvideo resource and sent to a UE. For another example, when servicesrelated to most of service packets are point-to-point (P2P)communications and only a small part of services are video services,more radio resources may be distributed to ensure video quality.

Preferably, the control information includes a policy modificationrequest message, used to indicate a policy of sending a service packetto an application server by an access network device. In this way, anoperator can flexibly adjust, according to a requirement of athird-party application, a policy of sending a service packet to theapplication server by the access network device.

It can be seen that, the processor 340 of the access network device 211is further configured to establish, through the third interface unit330, a user plane channel between the access network device 211 and theapplication server 212, and the processing unit 430 of the applicationserver 212 is further configured to establish, through the interfaceunit 410, a user plane channel between the access network device 211 andthe application server 212.

It should be noted that a service packet may come from a UE or come froma core network side, so a user plane channel may be established in eachof an uplink direction and a downlink direction. Of course, anindependent user plane channel may also be established. At this time, todifferentiate whether the service packet is data from a UE side or datafrom a core network side, a direction identity field needs to be addedin the service packet to identify a source direction of the servicepacket.

In addition, considering that the number of services supported by theapplication server is usually more than one, when a user channel in onedirection (the uplink direction or the downlink direction) isconsidered, if all services share one user plane channel, an identityneeds to be added in a service packet to identify a forwardingdestination, that is, identify which service the service packet isprovided to for running; if no field is added, the application serverneeds to identify and distribute service packets.

The hardware structure of the application server is described above, anda software structure of the application server is described withreference to the accompanying drawings in the following. The processingunit of the server manages, through the following software structure,other units of the application server, to implement functions of thewhole application server. FIG. 8 shows a software architecture of anapplication server provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 8, the processing unit 430 is a central processing unit(Central Processing Unit, CPU), on which an operating system (OperatingSystem, OS) is run through a board support package (board supportpackage, BSP). In this way, a control plane processing program, a userplane processing program, a third-party application program, anoperation manager (Operation Manager, OM) program are run at a platformprovided by the OS.

The control plane processing program is used to process a control planemessage between the application server and the access network device,and the following three basic kinds of control processes exist: a basicmanagement process, a service bearer management process, and an openinformation obtaining process. The basic management process is used toestablish and maintain a control plane link between the applicationserver and the access network device; the service bearer managementprocess is used to establish and maintain a user plane channel betweenthe application server and the access network device; and the openinformation obtaining process is used for the application server tosubscribe to status information of a wireless network (including statusinformation of an air interface at an access network device side orstatus information of the access network device), and used for reportingthe status information from the access network device.

The user plane processing program provides processing of the user planechannel between the application server and the access network device,and is used for service packet interaction between the access networkdevice and the application server.

The third-party application program terminates or forwards applicationlayer data of a user or provides a specific service according to aspecific application.

The OM program is used to coordinate and manage user plane processing,control plane processing, and a third-party application, and has atleast a log/test/version management function.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, in addition to originalfunctions, the access network device needs to implement the followingadditional functions:

1. Sending a service packet to the application server for processing. Ifan independent user plane channel to each third-party application isestablished, a packet is merely forwarded to a corresponding user planechannel (if a user plane channel is established in each of the uplinkand the downlink, each channel indicates a direction; otherwise, adirection identity field needs to be used, to identify whether the datais data from a UE or data from a core network). If third-partyapplications share one user plane channel, an identity (used to identifya sending destination) needs to be added, and then the packet is sent;if no identity is added, packets need to be identified and distributedat a receiving end (if a user plane channel is established in each ofthe uplink and the downlink, each channel indicates a direction;otherwise, a direction identity field needs to be used).

2. Forwarding the packet after receiving the packet from the applicationserver. If each third-party application establishes an independent userplane channel, the packet needs to be sent to a UE or a core networkaccording to a direction (if a channel is established in each of theuplink and the downlink, each channel indicates a direction; otherwise,a direction identity field needs to be used). If third-partyapplications share one user plane channel, a packet needs to beforwarded according to a policy. Optional polices include, but notlimited to, forwarding the packet according to a DPI; identifying andforwarding the packet according to an identity (used to identify asending destination—a specific bearer) (if a channel is established ineach of the UE direction and the core network direction, each channelindicates a direction; otherwise, a direction identity field needs to beused).

3. Establishment of a user plane channel.

Functions of the application server include:

1. Parsing a service packet sent by the access network device.

2. Establishing a user plane channel.

3. Executing a third-party application.

4. Receiving the packet from the access network device for processing,and forwarding the service packet to a specific third-party application.If each third-party application establishes an independent user planechannel, a packet on a corresponding channel is only forwarded to acorresponding third-party application (if a channel is established ineach of the uplink and the downlink, each channel indicates a direction;otherwise, a direction identity field needs to be used); if third-partyapplications share one user plane channel, a packet needs to beforwarded according to a policy. Optional polices include, but notlimited to, forwarding the packet according to a DPI; and identifyingand forwarding the packet according to a forwarding identity (if achannel is established in each of the uplink and the downlink, eachchannel indicates a direction; otherwise, a direction identity fieldneeds to be used).

5. Sending a packet to the access network device for processing, thatis, forwarding a user plane packet of a third-party application to auser plane channel. If each third-party application establishes anindependent user plane channel, a packet only needs to be forwarded to acorresponding channel (if a channel is established in each of the uplinkand the downlink, each channel indicates a direction; otherwise, adirection identity field needs to be used); if third-party applicationsshare one user plane channel, an identity (used to identify a forwardingdestination) needs to be added to the packet, and then the packet isforwarded (if no identity is added, the packet needs to be identifiedand distributed at a receiving end; if a channel is established in eachof the uplink and the downlink, each channel indicates a direction;otherwise, a direction identity field needs to be used).

Corresponding to the foregoing access network device, an embodiment ofthe present disclosure further provides a communication method. As shownin FIG. 9, the method includes the following steps:

S910: An access network device receives a service packet; and

S920: The access network device sends the received service packet to anapplication server according to a policy.

As described in the foregoing description, the application server isarranged at an access network side, and is independent from the accessnetwork device or in the access network device, and the applicationserver supports operation of at least one service.

It can be seen that, a service packet from a UE side can be forwarded tothe application server through the access network device, and processedby the application server. In this way, a response to the service packetfrom the UE side can be implemented at the access network side, whichsignificantly improves the response time of a user request, decreasesservice delay, and improves the QoS of a service, thereby improving userexperience.

Similar to the foregoing embodiment, in step S910, the service packetreceived by the access network device may come from a UE side or comefrom a core network side.

Similar to the foregoing embodiment, in step S920, the policy of sendinga service packet to the application server by the access network deviceincludes, but not limited to, sending all service packets received bythe access network device to the application server; or identifying,with identity information, whether a service packet can be sent to theapplication server, sending, to the application server, a service packetthat can be sent to the application server, and sending, to a corenetwork, a service packet that cannot be sent to the application server.The setting of the identity information is similar to the foregoingembodiment, which is not detailed herein again.

Corresponding to the foregoing application server, an embodiment of thepresent disclosure further provides another communication method. Asshown in FIG. 10, the method includes the following steps:

S101: An application server receives a service packet sent by an accessnetwork device, where the application server is arranged at an accessnetwork side, and is independent from the access network device or inthe access network device, and the application server supports operationof at least one service; and

S102: The application server processes the service packet.

It can be seen that, the application server that supports operation of aservice is arranged at the access network side, and receives andprocesses a service packet from the access network device. In this way,a response to a service packet of a UE side can be implemented at theaccess network side, which significantly improves the response time of auser request, decreases service delay, and improves the QoS of aservice, thereby improving user experience.

The procedure of processing the corresponding service packet in stepS102 varies with a service packet received by the application server.The procedure includes, but not limited to, the procedure shown in FIG.5 and FIG. 6.

In addition, if a parsed service packet includes update data of aservice supported by a processing unit, the update data is stored to astorage unit.

Before the access network device sends a service packet to theapplication server and the application server receives the servicepacket from the access network device, a user plane channel needs to beestablished between the access network device and the applicationserver. The manner of establishing the user plane channel is similar towhat described above, which is not detailed herein again.

Corresponding to the foregoing communication system, an embodiment ofthe present disclosure further provides a communication method. As shownin FIG. 11, the method includes the following steps:

S111: An access network device receives a service packet sent by a UE ora core network;

S112: The access network device sends the received service packet to anapplication server according to a policy.

Before step S112, a user plane channel needs to be established betweenthe access network device and the application server.

As described above, the user plane channel may be preset, so that afterthe access network device and the application server are powered on, theuser plane channel can bear user plane information. Alternatively,according to an interface protocol between the access network device andthe application server, the user plane channel is established after theaccess network device and the application server are powered on or theaccess network device receives a service packet that needs to beforwarded to the application server.

In addition, the number of user plane channels established may be one ormore. For example, if the transmission of uplink and downlink servicedata is taken into consideration, a user plane channel may beestablished in each of the uplink and the downlink; or only one userplane channel is established, and a direction identity field is added inthe service packet. For another example, considering data of third-partyapplications running on the application server, a user plane channel maybe established for each third-party application; or only one user planechannel shared by all third-party applications may be established, andat this time, the received service packet needs to be identified anddistributed at a receiving end, or an identity field identifying adestination needs to be added in the service packet.

S113: The application server processes the service packet.

If the service packet comes from a UE, the service packet usuallyincludes a service request of the UE; and if the application server hasa service resource requested by the UE, the application server sends theservice resource to the access network device (S114). If the applicationserver does not have the service resource requested by the UE, theapplication server returns the service packet to the access networkdevice, so that the access network device sends the service packet outthrough a conventional channel (S115); or the application server sendsthe service packet to a core network directly, and at this time, adirect channel from the application server to the core network isrequired (S116); or the application server sends instruction signalingto the access network device (S117), where the instruction signaling isused to instruct the access network device to send the service packet toa core network. Because the access network device has received theservice packet in step S111, the access network device only needs tocache the service packet and sends, according to the instructioninformation, the service packet out through a conventional channel, sothat a service is provided to the UE in a conventional manner when theapplication server cannot provide the service.

When receiving the service resource requested by the UE, the accessnetwork device sends the service resource to the UE (S118). Whenreceiving the returned service packet or the instruction signaling, theaccess network device continues to send the service packet to a corenetwork (S119).

It should be noted that if the application server supports a servicerequested by the UE but does not have the service resource requested bythe UE, because a service request may continue to be sent through thecore network to an external network, then the requested service resourcemay be obtained through the external network. When the requested serviceresource is sent through the core network to the access network device,and the access network device forwards the service resource to theapplication server, the application server stores the service resourcein step S113 to update the service resource in the application server.Of course, the service resource for the updating may also be sent by theexternal network to the application server through the core network andthe access network device regularly or in real time.

It can be seen that, when receiving the service request of the UE, theaccess network device sends the service request to the applicationserver; if the application server has the service resource requested bythe UE, the application server can provide a service for the UEdirectly, which significantly shortens a path of service interaction andreduces the number of network elements involved in the serviceinteraction. Therefore, service delay is decreased, the QoS of a serviceis improved, and user experience is improved. Even though theapplication server does not support the service requested by the UE ordoes not have the service resource, the application server may alsocontinue to send, through the core network, the service request to aremote server, so as to avoid the influence on use of the service of auser. From the perspective of the whole system, each access networkdevice usually allows access of multiple UEs, and each UE usually hasmultiple service requirements. Therefore, there is certainly a servicethat can be supported by the application server, thereby decreasingservice delay and improving the QoS of a service on the whole.Especially for a same service request of multiple UEs, backhaul(Backhaul) resources can also be saved with the foregoing method. Forexample, when the application server supports Web related Cacheacceleration and many users have access or downloading needs for hotvideos, micro-blogs and the like, the application server provides thiskind of services directly at this time, which significantly savesbackhaul resources, solves the problem that a part of users cannotperform access due to insufficiency resources, and decreases downloadingand access delay, thereby significantly improving user experience.

For another example, in step S111, the access network device receives anM2M handshake request of the UE, and a destination UE requested by theUE also accesses the access network device. In a conventional process,the service request needs to pass through the core network and is fed bythe access network device back to the destination UE. By using themethod provided in this embodiment, as long as the application serversupports an M2M handshake service, the service request does not need topass through the core network, thereby decreasing service delay andsaving backhaul resources.

Features and advantages of the communication method, the access networkdevice, the application server, and the communication system provided inthe embodiments are described with a long term evolution (Long TermEvolution, LTE) communication system as an example. Other communicationsystems (such as a universal mobile telecommunications system (UniversalMobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) and a global system for mobilecommunications (Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM)) aresimilar to it, and details are not described again in the followingembodiments.

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an LTE communication systemprovided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown FIG. 12,an eNB121 and an application server 122 are arranged at an accessnetwork side, where the application server 122 is configured to run athird-party application service, and the eNB121 needs to bypass areceived service packet to the application server 122 for processing.The bypassed service packet may be a service packet from an airinterface (UU) (that is, a service packet sent by a UE), or a servicepacket from an S1-U interface and borne in the GTP-U. A serving gateway(serving gateway, S-GW) 123, a packet data network gateway (Packet DataNetwork (PDN) gateway, P-GW) 124, and a mobility management entity(Mobility Management Entity, MME) 125 are arranged at a core networkside. The P-GW 124 is configured to detect a service data stream betweendifferent networks, perform policy execution, and perform stream-basedcharging, and is a user plane anchor point between a 3GPP access networkand a non-3GPP access network, and an interface connecting a corenetwork-packet switched domain to an external PDN. Meanwhile, theP-GW124 may serve as a policy and charging enforcement function (Policyand Charging Enforcement Function, PCEF) entity and may be connected,through a Gx interface, to a policy and charging rules function (Policyand Charging Rules Function, PCRF) entity 126. The S-GW 123 isconfigured to establish a user plane tunnel between the eNB 121 and theP-GW. Responsibilities of the MME 125 includes: termination ofnon-access layer signaling (for example, mobility management and sessionmanagement), gateway selection, and UE authentication.

It should be noted that, as for a HNB/HeNB scenario, because thecoverage of a site is too small, the application server may be deployedin a HNB/HeNB gateway (GW) to lower a cost; as for UMTS and GSM, theapplication server may be deployed in or near the RNC/BSC; the HNB/HeNBGW or the RNC/BSC needs to bypass a received service packet to theapplication server for processing, where the bypassed packets varieswith different standards/interface modes. As for the UMTS, the bypassedpackets are packets from an air interface direction and from an Iu-PSinterface direction, and for the GSM, the bypassed packets are packetsfrom an air interface direction and from an A/Iu-PS interface direction.FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a user plane data stream of thecommunication system shown in FIG. 12. The solid line {circle around(1)} represents a user plane data stream that can be terminated by theapplication server, that is, if the user plane data stream can beterminated, a third-party application can directly generate a downlinkpacket and use an established GTP-U. The dotted line {circle around (2)}represents a user plane data stream that cannot be terminated by theapplication server. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, theuser plane data stream represented by the solid line {circle around (1)}may be selected preferably according to a third-party applicationsupported by the application server. Compared with a conventional casethat only the user plane data stream represented by the dotted line{circle around (2)} exists, service delay is decreased, and the QoS of aservice is improved, thereby improving user experience.

Further referring to FIG. 14, to facilitate packet transmission betweenthe eNB 121 and the application server 122, a user plane channel isestablished in each of an uplink direction and a downlink direction inthis embodiment to bear a service packet in an air interface directionand a service packet in an S1 direction, respectively. For the clarityof description, eNBs are shown separately in FIG. 14, but in fact, thetwo eNBs in FIG. 14 is an entity physically. In addition, a channel inthe air interface direction and a channel in the S1 direction may be thesame or different, and a user plane channel is different from an S1channel, and a service packet needs to be transferred by the eNB.

An application and wireless network interface protocol is similar towhat described above, and a list of control information in the controlplane protocols of the application and wireless network interfaceprotocol is provided below (as shown in Table. 1 and Table. 2, theprocess in Table. 1 is a process in which a response is required, andthe process in Table. 2 is a process in which a response is notrequired).

TABLE 1 Successful Unsuccessful Outcome Outcome (Successful(Unsuccessful Outcome) Outcome) Elementary Initiating Response ResponseProcedure Message message message (Elementary (Initiating (Response(Response Comment Procedure) Message) message) message) (Comment) Reset(Reset) Reset (Reset) Reset Used for mutual Acknowledge notification(Reset between the Acknowledge) application server and the eNB when theapplication server or the eNB is reset Open API Open API Open API OpenAPI Used for Interface Setup Interface Setup Interface Setup InterfaceSetup establishing a (Open API Request(Open Response (Open Failure (OpenAPI control plane link Interface Setup) API Interface API InterfaceInterface Setup from the Setup Request) Setup Response) Failure)application server to the eNB eNB eNB eNB eNB Used for ConfigurationConfiguration Configuration Configuration notification to the Update(eNB Update (eNB Update Update Failure application server ConfigurationConfiguration Acknowledge (eNB when the Update) Update) (eNBConfiguration configuration of Configuration Update Failure) the eNB isUpdate changed Acknowledge) APP Server APP Server APP Server APP ServerUsed for Configuration Configuration Configuration Configurationnotification to the Update (APP Update (APP Update Update Failure eNBwhen Server Server Acknowledge (APP Server configuration ofConfiguration Configuration (APP Server Configuration the applicationUpdate) Update) Configuration Update Failure) server is changed UpdateAcknowledge) Service Bearer Service Bearer Service Bearer Used for Setup(Service Setup Request Setup Response establishing a user Bearer Setup)(Service Bearer (Service Bearer plane channel Setup Request) SetupResponse) between the eNB and the application server Service BearerService Bearer Service Bearer Used for Modify (Service Modify RequestModify Response notification when Bearer Modify) (Service Bearer(Service Bearer the parameter of Modify Request) Modify Response) theuser plan channel between the eNB and the application server is changedService Bearer Service Bearer Service Bearer Used for release Release(Service Release Request Release Response of the user plane BearerRelease) (Service Bearer (Service Bearer channel between ReleaseRequest) Release the eNB and the Response) application server StatusInformation Status Information Status Information The applicationSubscribe (Status Subscribe Request Subscribe server triggersInformation (Status Response (Status eNB status Subscribe) InformationInformation information Subscribe Subscribe subscription Request)Response) Policy Modify Policy Modify Policy Modify Used for the (PolicyModify) Request (Policy Response (Policy application server ModifyRequest) Modify Response) to trigger eNB policy modification.

TABLE 2 Elementary Procedure (Elementary Message Comment Procedure)(Message) (Comment) Error Indication Error Indication Bidirectionalerror (Error Indication) (Error Indication) indication Service BearerService Bearer Release The application server Release (Service indicate(Service notifies the release of the Bearer Release) Bearer Release userplane channel to indicate) the eNB Status Information Status InformationUsed for the eNB to report Subscribe Indicate Subscribe Indicate statusinformation to the (Status Information (Status Information applicationserver Subscribe Indicate) Subscribe Indicate)

It should be noted that the UMTS and the GSM may reuse the message typein the tables, but its name and meaning need to be modified. Forexample, eNB related words need to be modified into specific networkelement names (for example, the RNC in the UMTS), and other meaningremains the same, but specific cells are different.

The detailed process of establishing a user plane channel is describedin the following according to the foregoing control information and withreference to FIG. 15. As shown in FIG. 15:

After an eNB and an application server are powered on, a control planelink is established between the eNB and the application server.Specifically, the eNB initiates a process of establishing an SCTP link,and after the SCTP link is successfully established, a process ofestablishing an open application programming interface (Open APIInterface) is initiated; after the open API interface is successfullyestablished, the establishment of the control plane link is completed.

A user plane channel is established between the eNB and the applicationserver. When a dedicated bearer with a UE is established, if the eNBreceives a service bearer establishment request sent by an MME, the eNBtriggers a process of establishing a service bearer to the applicationserver, so as to complete the process of establishing the user planechannel. Two user plane channels or one user plane channel may beestablished for the air interface direction and the S1 direction. Ifonly one user plane channel is established, it is required to identifythe channel or the service packet is from an air interface direction orfrom an S1 direction. Regardless of whether the process succeeds or not,an S1 tunnel (namely, a tunnel between an eNB and a core network) isestablished. However, if the user plane channel is not successfullyestablished, the eNB cannot forward the service packet to theapplication server. In addition, regardless of whether the process ofestablishing a service bearer succeeds or not, a service bearerestablishment response needs to be sent to the MME to notify whether theuser plane channel is established or not. The service bearer, sessionmanagement, and radio resource distribution are well known to personsskilled in the art, and not described in detail herein again.

If the eNB receives a bearer update request sent from the MME, the eNBdetermines whether the bearer information of the application serverneeds to be updated, and if yes, the eNB initiates bearer update;otherwise, the eNB does not initiate the bearer update. The process isnot shown in FIG. 15.

If the eNB triggers bearer release by itself or after receiving amessage from the MME, the eNB needs to instruct the application serverto release the service bearer. Then, a service bearer release responseis sent to the MME to notify the situation of service bearer release tothe MME.

In addition, if the application server intends to subscribe to statusinformation of the eNB, the application server may initiate a process ofsubscribing to the status information; if the subscription succeeds, theeNB needs to report, in a period manner or in an event manner, thestatus information subscribed.

To sum up, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, an applicationserver that supports operation of third-party applications is introducedat an access network side, so that a UE can directly perform serviceinteraction with the access network side, which significantly improvesthe response time of a user request, decreases service delay, improvesthe QoS of a service, thereby improving user experience. Feasiblenetworking solutions for adding an application server at the accessnetwork side include, but not limited to, a network networking structureof a single site or a networking structure in a cloud (Cloud) networkscenario. Detailed descriptions are provided in the following:

Networking solution of a single site: An application server independentfrom an access network device is added directly at the access networkside. Alternatively, the application server serves as a component unitof the access network device, for example, the application server isdirectly embedded in a baseband unit (BaseBand Unit, BBU) in a mannersimilar to a baseband board. At this time, an application server unitshould comply with a board design standard, and is embedded in the BBUand provides a link channel through a backboard.

Networking solution based on a Cloud network scenario: The applicationserver serving as a standard unit of a Cloud BB is embedded in a cabinetof the cloud base station (Cloud BB) and provides a third-partyapplication service.

Currently, in the prior art, to shorten a distance from a remote serverand a UE to further decrease service delay, a solution of moving agateway down is put forward, for example, the gateway is moved down toan S-GW or an access network side or the like. The solution can solveproblems of long service time and low QoS of a service, but cannotachieve the balance among mobility, lawful interception, charging,bandwidth saving and other aspects. Especially, for the processing ofmobility, once the UE moves and performs access from other accessnetwork devices, a third-party service behind the gateway cannot sensethe change, so service continuity cannot be ensured.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, in combination with aspecific third-party application, the problems in the mobility, lawfulinterception, charging, bandwidth saving and other aspects can besolved. An example is given in the following:

Mobility Processing

In the architecture provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure,an eNB and an application server can implement establishment andmaintenance of a user channel when a UE moves, thereby ensuring servicecontinuity in coordination with a third-party service. The situation isdescribed with an example:

For example, for Web related services, local Caches of this type ofservices are deployed on the application server, remote Caches of thistype of services and a service continuity control functional entity aredeployed behind an SGi of a core network, and a service terminationfunctional entity is deployed between the P-GW and the S-GW; content ofthe local Caches on the application server may have or may not havecorresponding copies on the remote Caches, but indexes of all the localCaches are stored in a remote service continuity control functionalentity, that is, a remote Cache functional entity can obtain, throughcalculation, whether the local Caches are hit.

When receiving an HTTP request, the application server forwards the HTTPsignaling to a core network through a S1-U tunnel, regardless of whetherthe local Caches are hit; the remote service continuity controlfunctional entity forwards the request to a remote server; afterreceiving the request, the remote server sends data to the UE; theservice continuity control functional entity makes a decision when thedata passes through the entity; if the Caches are not hit, the data iscached, and a Cache Index (Index) is generated; regardless of whetherthe Caches are hit, the content continues to be forwarded to the UE, andat the same time, whether the content is hit by the Caches on theapplication server is indicated by private associated informationdefined by a TCP extension header. After the content reaches the servicetermination functional entity through the P-GW, the associatedinformation is checked by the entity; if it indicates that the contentis hit by the application server, the content is discarded; otherwise,the content continues to be forwarded to the UE. If the contentcontinues to be forwarded to the application server through the S-GW andthe eNB, the content that is not hit previously by a local Cache iscached, and a Cache Index is generated; if the content is hit by acache, the original content is replaced (fault tolerance processing).

When forwarding the HTTP request, a local application server may add aprivate extension header in a GTP-U packet that bears an applicationpacket to indicate a local application identity, and if the content ishit, the GTP-U packet needs to carry a Cache Index; when passing throughthe service termination functional entity, the Cache Index may change tobe borne by a private TCP extension header; when passing through theservice continuity control functional entity, the service continuitycontrol functional entity records the application server correspondingto the request and information in the TCP extension header such as theCache Index. When the UE moves from one eNB to another eNB, if theapplication server is changed, the remote service continuity controlfunctional entity learns that the application server is changed andlearns whether content in a new application server is cached in thelocal application server, because all request information of the UE passthrough the application server and the local application identity andthe Cache Index are carried by the extension header of the GTP-U, Inthis way, a service can be transmitted continuously. When the UE movesfrom a region where an application server is available to a region wherean application server is unavailable or moves from a region where anapplication server is unavailable to a region where an applicationserver is available, because the control information of the UE is notterminated locally, the function of the remote service continuitycontrol can sense the change and learn whether to forward the content.As a result, service continuity can also be ensured.

The are two solutions for the charging and lawful interceptionprocessing:

1. An application server gateway is deployed in a core network, andimplements coordination with a charging gateway and a lawfulinterception gateway. For charging, a call details record is generatedby an application server and reported to the application server gateway,and the application server gateway summarizes and reports the calldetails record to the charging gateway. For lawful interception, afterthe lawful interception is started, a packet is copied by theapplication server and reported to the application server gateway, andthe application server gateway summarizes and reports the packet to thelawful interception gateway.

2. For a specific service such as the service described in the mobilityprocessing, because control information of an application layer isconstantly sent to the application server, and all packets of theapplication server pass through the P-GW, the original standard solutionof the 3GPP can be used for charging and lawful interception. Thecharging and the lawful interception are implemented by the P-GW, solittle impact is caused on an existing network element.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part ofthe steps of implementing the foregoing method can be implemented by aprogram instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer readable medium. The readable medium may be a ROM/RAM, amagnetic disk, an optical disk or the like.

For example, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computerprogram product, including a computer readable medium. The readablemedium includes a group of program codes, used to perform anycommunication method described in the foregoing embodiments.

Persons skilled in the art should understand that the accompanyingdrawings show only exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure andthe units and processes shown in the drawings are not necessarilymandatory in the present disclosure.

Persons skilled in the art should understand that the units in theapparatus provided in the embodiment may be distributed in the apparatusaccording to the description of the embodiment, or may be arranged inone or more apparatuses which are different from those described in theembodiments. The units in the foregoing embodiment may be combined intoone module, or split into multiple subunits.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments of the presentdisclosure are merely intended for describing the solutions of thepresent disclosure other than limiting the present disclosure. Althoughthe present disclosure is described in detail with reference to theforegoing embodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art shouldunderstand that they can still make modifications to the solutiondescribed in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent substitutionsto some features thereof, and such modifications or substitutions cannotmake the essence of the corresponding solution depart from the idea andscope of the solution of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication method, applied in a wirelessnetwork that comprises an access network and a core network, wherein theaccess network comprises an access network device and an applicationserver, which is independent from the access network device or in theaccess network device, and the application server supports operation ofat least one type of service, the method comprising: receiving, by theaccess network device, a service packet; determining, by the accessnetwork device according to identity information, whether the servicepacket can be sent to the application server, wherein the identityinformation comprises: one of a quality of a service class identifier(QCI) information, a stateful packet inspection (SPI) information, or adeep packet inspection (DPI); when the access network device determinesthat the service packet can be sent to the application server, sending,by the access network device, the service packet to the applicationserver; when the access network device determines that the servicepacket cannot be sent to the application server, sending, by the accessnetwork device, the service packet to the core network; receiving, bythe access network device, a status information subscription requestmessage from the application server, wherein the status informationsubscription request message is used to instruct the access networkdevice to send status information of the wireless network to theapplication server; and sending, by the access network device accordingto the status information subscription request message, the statusinformation of the wireless network to the application server.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by theaccess network device, a policy modification request message from theapplication server, wherein the policy modification request message isused to indicate a policy of sending a service packet to the applicationserver; sending, by the access network device, another service packet tothe application server according to the policy indicated by the policymodification request message.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein sending the service packet to the application server comprises:sending the service packet to the application server through a userplane channel established between the access network device and theapplication server.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the userplane channel is established according to an application and a wirelessnetwork interface protocol, the application and the wireless networkinterface protocol comprises a control plane protocol and a user planeprotocol, the user plane protocol is used for information transmissionon the user plane channel, the control plane protocol is used for theestablishment of the user plane channel.
 5. A communication method,applied in a wireless network that comprises an access network and acore network, wherein the access network comprises an access networkdevice and an application server, which is independent from the accessnetwork device or in the access network device, and the applicationserver supports operation of at least one type of service, the methodcomprising: receiving, by the application server, a service packet sentby the access network device; processing, by the application server, theservice packet; wherein the service packet is sent by the access networkdevice after the access network device determines that the servicepacket can be sent to the application server according to identityinformation used to indicate whether the service packet can be sent tothe application server, and the identity information comprises one of: aquality of service class identifier (QCI) information, a stateful packetinspection (SPI) information, or a deep packet inspection (DPI);sending, by the application server, a status information subscriptionrequest message to the access network device, wherein the statusinformation subscription request message is used to instruct the accessnetwork device to send status information of the wireless network to theapplication server; and receiving, by the application server, the statusinformation of the wireless network that is sent by the access networkdevice according to the status information subscription request message.6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: sending, by theapplication server, a policy modification request message to the accessnetwork device, wherein the policy modification request message is usedto indicate a policy of sending a service packet to the applicationserver; receiving, by the application server, another service packetthat is sent by the access network device according to the policyindicated by the policy modification request message.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the service packet is received through auser plane channel established between the access network device and theapplication server.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the userplane channel is established according to an application and a wirelessnetwork interface protocol, the application and the wireless networkinterface protocol comprises a control plane protocol and a user planeprotocol, the user plane protocol is used for information transmissionon the user plane channel, the control plane protocol is used for theestablishment of the user plane channel.
 9. The method according toclaim 5, wherein the processing the service packet comprises: parsing,by the application server, the service packet; running, by theapplication server according to the parsed service packet, a servicecorresponding to the service packet; and feeding, by the applicationserver, a running result back to the access network device.
 10. Themethod according to claim 5, wherein the processing the service packetcomprises: parsing, by the application server, the service packet; andstoring, by the application server when a result of the parsingindicates that the service packet comprises update data of a service inthe at least one type of service supported by the application server,the update data.
 11. An access network device, in a wireless networkthat comprises an access network and a core network, wherein the accessnetwork comprises the access network device and an application server,which is independent from the access network device or in the accessnetwork device, and the application server supports operation of atleast one type of service, the device comprising: a first interfaceunit, configured to communicate with a terminal; a second interfaceunit, configured to communicate with the core network; a third interfaceunit configured to communicate with the application server; and aprocessor, connected to each of the first interface unit, the secondinterface unit, and the third interface unit, and configured to: receivea service packet through the first interface unit; determine whether theservice packet can be sent to the application server according toidentity information, wherein the identity information comprises one of:a quality of service class identifier (QCI) information, a statefulpacket inspection (SPI) information, or a deep packet inspection (DPI);send, when it is determined that the service packet can be sent to theapplication server, the service packet to the application server, orsend, when it is determined that the service packet cannot be sent tothe application server, the service packet to the core network; receivea status information subscription request message from the applicationserver, wherein the status information subscription request message isused to instruct the access network device to send status information ofthe wireless network to the application server; and send the statusinformation of the wireless network to the application server accordingto the status information subscription request message.
 12. The accessnetwork device according to claim 11, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: receive a policy modification request message from theapplication server, wherein the policy modification request message isused to indicate a policy of sending a service packet to the applicationserver; send another service packet to the application server accordingto the policy indicated by the policy modification request message. 13.The access network device according to claim 11, wherein the servicepacket is sent through a user plane channel established between theaccess network device and the application server.
 14. The access networkdevice according to claim 13, wherein the user plane channel isestablished according to an application and a wireless network interfaceprotocol of the third interface unit, the application and the wirelessnetwork interface protocol comprises a control plane protocol and a userplane protocol, the user plane protocol is used for informationtransmission on the user plane channel, the control plane protocol isused for the establishment of the user plane channel.
 15. An applicationserver, in a wireless network that comprises an access network and acore network, wherein the access network comprises an access networkdevice and the application server, which is independent from the accessnetwork device or in the access network device, and the applicationserver supports operation of at least one type of service, theapplication server comprising: an interface unit, configured tocommunicate with the access network device; a memory, configured tostore service data of the at least one type of service supported by theapplication server; and a processor, connected to each of the interfaceunit and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to receive,through the interface unit, a service packet sent by the access networkdevice, and process the service packet, wherein the service packet issent by the access network device after the access network devicedetermines that the service packet can be sent to the application serveraccording to identity information used to indicate whether the servicepacket can be sent to the application server; and the identityinformation comprises one of: a quality of service class identifier(QCI) information, a stateful packet inspection (SPI) information, or adeep packet inspection (DPI), wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: send a status information subscription request message tothe access network device, wherein the status information subscriptionrequest message is used to instruct the access network device to sendstatus information of the wireless network to the application server;and receive the status information of the wireless network that is sentby the access network device according to the status informationsubscription request message.
 16. The application server according toclaim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: send a policymodification request message to the access network device, wherein thepolicy modification request message is used to indicate a policy ofsending a service packet to the application server; receive anotherservice packet that is sent by the access network device according tothe policy indicated by the policy modification request message.
 17. Theapplication server according to claim 15, wherein the service packet isreceived through a user plane channel established between the accessnetwork device and the application server.
 18. The application serveraccording to claim 17, wherein the user plane channel is establishedaccording to an application and a wireless network interface protocol ofthe interface unit, and the application and the wireless networkinterface protocol comprises a control plane protocol and a user planeprotocol, the user plane protocol is used for information transmissionon the user plane channel, the control plane protocol is used for theestablishment of the user plane channel.
 19. The application serveraccording to claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to: parse theservice packet; run a service corresponding to the service packetaccording to the parsed service packet; and feed a running result backto the access network device.
 20. The application server according toclaim 15, wherein the processor is configured to: parse the servicepacket; and store, when a result of the parsing indicates that theservice packet comprises update data of a service in the at least onetype of service supported by the processor, the update data in thememory.
 21. A wireless communication system, comprising an accessnetwork and a core network, wherein the access network comprises anaccess network device and an application server, which is independentfrom the access network device or in the access network device, and theapplication server supports operation of at least one type of service,wherein the access network device comprises: a first interface unit,configured to communicate with a terminal; a second interface unit,configured to communicate with the core network; a third interface unitconfigured to communicate with the application server; and a firstprocessor, connected to each of the first interface unit, the secondinterface unit, and the third interface unit, and configured to: receivea service packet through the first interface unit; determine whether theservice packet can be sent to the application server according toidentity information, wherein the identity information comprises one of:a quality of service class identifier (QCI) information, a statefulpacket inspection (SPI) information, or a deep packet inspection (DPI);send, when the service packet can be sent to the application server, theservice packet to the application server, or send, when the servicepacket cannot be sent to the application server, the service packet tothe core network; and the application server comprises: a fourthinterface unit, configured to communicate with the access networkdevice; a memory, configured to store service data of the at least onetype of service supported by the application server; and a secondprocessor, connected to each of the fourth interface unit and thememory, wherein the second processor is configured to receive, throughthe fourth interface unit, the service packet sent by the access networkdevice, and process the service packet, wherein the second processor isfurther configured to send a status information subscription requestmessage to the access network device, wherein the status informationsubscription request message is used to instruct the access networkdevice to send status information of the wireless network to theapplication server; and the first processor is further configured toreceive the status information subscription request message from theapplication server and send the status information of the wirelessnetwork to the application server according to the status informationsubscription request message; and the second processor is furtherconfigured to receive the status information of the wireless network.